Saturday, June 28, 2008

A mini Little Golden Book turned into a pocket sized treasury of "stuff". Some oversized pages, flaunting their fibers, entice you to pick up the book. Left hand side is a piece of a page from a crossword puzzle dictionary and where I got the title of my little book. On the right side, the broken black button and two silver eyehooks at the top and pearl button at the bottom of the page are glued on with Diamond Glaze to add dimension to the illusion created by my photograph of tiny stuff.

The vintage photo is a copy of an original I have in my collection, but the paper photo corners are the real vintage thing, rescued from a neighbor's trash. The quote is a real one from a local man who grew up during the Great Depression. I attached a piece of string to the gold safety pin as a symbol of the ubiqutious string that would have been saved for when it might be needed. Background paper was created by rubber stamping a townhouse facade (A Stamp in the Hand) over a c. 1978 Kansas city Star classifieds, yellowed with age (a priceless find in an old suitcase). The word "hoarding" under the vintage photo was originally "boarding" before I appropriately altered it (divine serendipity!)

St. Hoardica is my favorite page. What do you do when your religion forbids coveting material things? You rationalize your obsession! The lovely picture was an anonymous saint found in a cheap picture frame. She now has a name and a story (fictional!) I am not Catholic and don't subscribe to praying to saints, but St. Hoardica is growing on me. Maybe because I invented her! heehee Her halo sports 3 sequin stars attached with dots of Diamond Glaze.Anywhere you see typewriter print in this book (or anywhere else in my art, for that matter!), it is done on a long suffering vintage typewriter I bought at a local shop. I own 3 typewriters now, but this one is my first and favorite. I'll share my typewriter collection and stories sometime.

As promised, a peek into another altered book I recently created. The is the first of two installments (to keep you coming back). I previewed this gem a few months ago when it was just a cover and first spread. The book got stuffed into a drawer and was forgotten, but then I found it one day and got so inspired, I completed the rest of the book in 3 days. The fact that it is a mini Little Golden Book, measuring a mere 2 3/4" square, helped! I used some of my favorite items that needed a specific home, like the button card with a pine tree landscape. I added a watercolor washed pasture and tipped the card in for an over sized page in the book. The back of the round tag from the pocket, opposite, reads, "D'avantage est rarementsuffisant." Translation, "More is rarely enough". heehee

One of my favorite altered book techniques is the folded triangular page. This one tabbed with back to back inchies. A bird on the front and....

...A dog on the back. The short folded pocket holds an altered dog tag (no pun intended- I didn't think about it until now) treated with Ranger alcohol inks and images stamped in Stazon inks. (By the way, I found that plain ol' rubbing alcohol cleaned Stazon ink from a rubber stamp COMPLETELY if used while the ink was still wet.) Two key charms were attached with Diamond Glaze which also seals the alcohol ink so it doesn't scratch off. The ochre colored paint on the pages is guache, used translucent to allow type to come through. Water based inks stamp perfectly over guache. Where the type shows completely through the paint, I used cheap-o water colors.

Here a vintage hairpin acts like a paper fastener for a piece of glassine (sp?) envelope. Postage stamp is sewn onto the glassine. Vintage handwritten school paper shows through. Because I am a tireless collector, I could easily fill another book or two or three with more about hoarding, keeping and collecting!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

When I was a kid, I spent my summers reading books. Now as an adult, I am altering books this summer. This book was a 25 cent thrift store find with a shabby chic robin's egg blue cover so it had to be for Linda (a RAK). I was going to send the book as-is, but then decided an altered spread would be more special. Can't wait to see what she adds to it.

I created my pocket spread by folding two consecutive pages into triangles and tacking them down with tiny brads (disguised as flower centers). I used cheap water colors to paint the pages so the book's manuscript came through and added the wide lace for texture and symmetry. Tags were embellished with many hostess RAKs I have collected from when I hosted swaps this past spring. The dymo labels are actually stickers and I also used bird and egg clip art, some nest wrapping paper, actual handwritten manuscript about birds (school papers from a great aunt), some vintage postage and self adhesive paper lace trim (K&Co.). Stay tuned for more altered books! The beautiful scans were provided by Linda, since in my excitement to get the book into the mail, I neglected to take pictures. Thank you, Linda!!!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ilove auctions! I went to one a week ago for the first time in almost 8 years. My experience with ebay helped me not get the fever and go nuts bidding on stuff I didn't need for prices I didn't need to pay. Haha! And the stuff I got was incredible!

This being a rural area, folks just don't appreciate the same things that appeal to an eccentric artist type like me, so I was able to get what I wanted for practically nothing. My favorite buy was the altered art shelf with cabinet nob hanging pegs. It came with the fabulous ancient padlock and I won the bid at $2.00. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? I still can't. I added the two ancient keys to finish the viniette. The alligator purse has a small tear on one side (easy to repair with glue) and is luxuriously lined with a buttery soft glove leather. An impulse buy that cost me maybe $6.00. Isn't it priceless looking? The sassy lingerie hamper wasn't an auction find, but I had to include it for show and tell because it is so unique. Found it at my favorite local thrift store, The Classic Shop. Other auction buys were a box of beautiful old, white china dishes ($2.50), a blue glass pitcher (50 cents), an 8 foot x 10 foot "Persian" area rug ($20), a large flat box of silver plate with a couple of sterling treasures in it (50 cents!), a box of antique postage, maybe 25 pages' worth from an album ($2.00) and a fabulous old type writer (in a wooden case) that I got for one dollar because I walked back into the auction room to get my things and no one was bidding on it and the auctioneer looked to me to take it, since I took so much other "junk". There WERE items that got some higher prices, but I got my treasures for a steal!

Nathalie B. Thompson

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing." --Benjamin Franklin

I'm Published!

Follow Me by Email

COPYRIGHT

All works of art and photographs within this website are protected under U.S. copyright laws and international conventions. No portion of the artists' work or statements may be duplicated, downloaded, reproduced or altered in any way without prior permission.